Music

Music at Mercersburg Academy ranges from symphonic works and show tunes to popular music and computer-generated original compositions.

Whether it’s in the classroom or out, student musicians find plenty of outlets for their creative voices. In the process, they gain confidence, explore fresh ideas, and discover new means of expression.

Students participate in performing groups, some of which offer course credit. In addition to concerts throughout the year, student musicians perform in the orchestra for Stony Batter’s winter musical. Students have the opportunity to audition for county, regional, and state ensembles.

Private lessons in voice and many instruments are available to students at any level of ability in one of the studios in the Burgin Center for the Arts, and academic courses teach music theory, composition, and more.

The Chorale

Directed by faculty members Bryan Morgan ’07 and James Brinson, the Chorale includes approximately 30 singers and performs music ranging from the Renaissance to the modern era. Open to all Mercersburg students, Chorale participants receive two academic credits for the year and enroll through the school’s registrar during the normal class-selection process. The group rehearses four times a week, covering proper breathing, tone production, ear training, sight-singing, and basic musicianship.

Each spring the Chorale participates in the Hershey Music in the Parks adjudication (most recently receiving an “excellent” rating). In recent years the Chorale has performed at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and Riverside Church in New York City and at other venues throughout the Mid-Atlantic. Chorale students may audition for the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association’s district, regional, and all-state chorus.

Concert Band

Consisting of approximately 35–40 wind and percussion musicians, the concert band performs both on- and off-campus throughout the year. The band rehearses four times each week under the direction of faculty member Richard Rotz, and its repertoire includes both traditional and popular music. Membership is limited to Mercersburg students who have had at least two years of experience playing their instrument.

Each spring, the band performs in the Hershey Music in the Parks adjudication; in 2019, it received a “superior” rating. Students in the band can audition for county, district, regional, and all-state band. Band students receive two academic credits for the school year, and they enroll through the school’s registrar during the normal class-selection process.

String Ensemble

The String Ensemble consists of 15–20 string players who perform at least once each term on campus as well as in several off-campus performances. The ensemble rehearses two times each week. Membership is limited to traditional string players (violin, viola, cello, string bass) who have at least two years of experience playing their instruments.

Each spring, the String Ensemble performs in the Hershey Music in the Parks adjudication (and most recently received a “superior” rating). Students in the String Ensemble may audition for the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association’s district, regional, and all-state orchestra. Professional cellist Michael Cameron conducts the String Ensemble. Students receive two academic credits for the school year and enrollment is through the school’s registrar during the normal class-selection process.

Mixing Music

Students are introduced to the world of music production using contemporary music software like Garage Band, Logic Express, and Ableton. This provides a project-based, hands-on experience in loop-based music production, MIDI basics, audio recording, digital signal processing and effects, live and post-recording mixing, and digital mastering. Music performance or music-reading background experience is not required. Projects include live performances, audio recording, and video recordings.

Level II includes more advanced compositional techniques, and more advanced music theory will be explored. Additional emphasis will be placed on techniques in mixing tracks via an analog mixer.

Meet the Music Faculty

Bryan Morgan

Arts Faculty and Director of Music
morganb@mercersburg.edu
717-328-6160

Bio

A 2007 graduate of Mercersburg Academy, Bryan Morgan was a member of the football team, Octet, Concert Band, Stony Batter Players, and Black Student Union. He went on to attend Duke University, where he was a four-year football starter for the Blue Devils on the offensive line and won numerous athletic and academic honors, including a University Scholar Athlete Award from the National Football Foundation and a spot on the Allstate Good Works Team. Bryan returned to Mercersburg in 2016 as a member of the faculty and was named director of music in 2020. He conducts the Chorale, Jazz Band and the Concert Band, teaches courses in mixing music, is an assistant football coach and part of the school’s strength and performance team, and lives in Tippetts Hall. Bryan grew up in Hoover, AL; he holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Duke and a master’s degree in music education from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

James Brinson

Arts Faculty, Organist, and Carillonneur
brinsonj@mercersburg.edu
717-328-6334

Bio

Jim Brinson was appointed Mercersburg’s school organist in 2003 and became the school carillonneur in 2009. He also directs Magalia (the school’s female a cappella group), Octet (the school’s male a cappella group), and the Chapel music program, and is assistant director of the Chorale. Jim is highly experienced in choral arts, organ performance, and music history. A graduate with distinction from both Union Theological Seminary’s School of Sacred Music and Rhodes College, he is a member of the American Guild of Organists and the American Choral Directors Association and an associate member of the Guild of Carillonneurs of North America. Jim previously worked at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and School in Winter Haven, FL, and at St. Mary’s Episcopal School in Memphis, TN, where he served as a music staff member and organist and choirmaster at Church of the Holy Communion. He has also taught music history and organ performance at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, FL. Jim and his wife, Doree (who was a staff member in the library), lived in Swank Hall for several years and now live in a townhouse on campus.

Michael Cameron

Arts Faculty
cameronm@mercersburg.edu
717-328-1494

Bio

Michael Cameron has served as the director of the Mercersburg String Ensemble since 2008. For 13 years, he was cellist and general manager of the Marian Anderson String Quartet. He holds degrees from Hartford University’s Hartt School of Music, Northwestern University, and Rice University. As a member of the Marian Anderson String Quartet, Michael won the 1991 Cleveland Quartet Competition, which enabled him to study cello and chamber music at the Eastman School of Music for three years. He has performed with the Maryland, York (PA), and Pan-American Symphony (D.C.) Orchestras and has taught cello and chamber music at Texas A&M University, Prairie View A&M University (TX), and California State University, Los Angeles. In addition to his responsibilities at Mercersburg, Michael serves as contributing faculty (cello) and director of chamber music at Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA), is an adjunct professor of cello at Bucknell University (Lewisburg, PA), conductor of orchestra at the Susquehanna Waldorf School (Lancaster County, PA), and teaches cello at the Cumberland Valley School of Music. He also teaches many private cello students who reside in the Central Pensylvania region and beyond.